Exactly Jim. Since joining the full time work force nearly 20 years ago, every company I've worked for has conducted a routine background check prior to hiring, even checking driving records. This is SOP these days....WMSR seriously dropped the ball here.

A critically important issue here is that for whatever reason(s) Kevin Rice ( CMO-Steam) and the entire steam qualified staff have been let go or have quit. Even if they somehow find the needed $600,000.00 they say will finish the job ( very unlikely unless the state comes up with it IMHO) whose going to do the work and sign off for it on the Federal forms??

Sorry to say but the chances of the 1309 being under steam any time soon are nil.

There was an article in today's Trains Newswire about the 1309 theft. Gary Bensman was interviewed and he indicated that much of the brass and bronze that was stolen has been recovered but damaged beyond further use. Apparently the thief pressed the brasses out of 8 driving boxes destroying the brasses in the process.

This was no "smash and grab". The perpetrator had to have been working hard for a long time.

Maybe they should have left 1309 at the B&O museum, at least it was a complete locomotive then. Now it's just another overambitious restoration project, like a few others, that may remain a pile of parts for years or forever.

Apparently the thief pressed the brasses out of 8 driving boxes destroying the brasses in the process.

This was no "smash and grab". The perpetrator had to have been working hard for a long time.

I'm am constantly amazed at the amount of time and effort expended by criminals for minimal, if any, short term gain when that industriousness could be channeled into something so much more productive. And to think you wouldn't eventually get caught....

Apparently the thief pressed the brasses out of 8 driving boxes destroying the brasses in the process.

This was no "smash and grab". The perpetrator had to have been working hard for a long time.

I'm am constantly amazed at the amount of time and effort expended by criminals for minimal, if any, short term gain when that industriousness could be channeled into something so much more productive. And to think you wouldn't eventually get caught....

I am amazed that there apparently was no supervisor at the WMSR that would notice any of this going on. Pressing brasses out of boxes takes TIME. It isn't like he showed up one night and filled the trunk up and left. Any supervisor worth his wages would have noticed brasses going missing from the driving boxes, or machines appearing to have been recently used when there was no need to use them etc.

This criminal has been caught, but he is unlikely to face any real repercussions from this. More than likely he has no real assets to confiscate, no job to garnish wages from, and putting him in jail for a period of time allows him to live free without working for a while.

Let's face it, the only prayer this project has is for the state & county to agree to come up with the $ 600k the WMSR say is needed to finish it. If I were the state I'd insist on getting a quote from an established steam restoration contractor ( who has a track record of successful restorations ) as to what it will take to get her back under steam as my guess is that the current mgt. has lost its credibility.

If that long shot doesn't happen then she'll join the 1361 ( exhibit A ) as exhibit ( B ) as how to NOT do a mainline steam restoration.

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